Yang named EEOC chair, becoming first Asian American to lead the agency

WASHINGTON – Jenny R. Yang has been named as the new chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, becoming the first Asian American to lead that agency.

President Barack Obama announced her elevation from vice chair on Tuesday. Yang has served as vice chair since April.

Yang is a longtime civil rights and employment lawyer. She was a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, and was a senior trial attorney with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Employment Litigation Section from 1998 to 2003.

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Yang said it was a “tremendous privilege and responsibility” to lead EEOC’s efforts at enforcing anti-discrimination laws and championing equal employment opportunity in workplaces across America.